kneeland



(No Model.) 7 zshet-sneet 1 v J. G. KNEELAND.

PAPER FEEDING MAGHINE.

Patented Sept.115, 1885-.-

WITNES8ES:

I I W W I ATTORNEY n mans. Plwbumompmr. washlnm n. c.

(No Model.) I 2Si1eets-Sheet J; C. KNEELAND.

. PAPER FBEDINGJMAGHLNE. N0. 326,124. v Patented Sept. 15, 1885.

WITNESSES: INYENTOR ATTORNEY :4. screws. Phmulhngnphn Wnhinlom n. e

1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH o. KNEELAND, or NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR TO M. H. SPAULDING, GUARDIAN, or SAME PLACE.

PAPER-FEEDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 326,124, dated September 15, 1885.

Application filed April 27, 1855. (No model.) i

T 60% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J OSEPH O. KNEELAND,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Northampton, in the county of Hampshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Paper-Feed ing Machines, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to improvements in IC paper-feeding machines, the object being to provide in said machines improved mechanism for separating one sheet from a pile of paper, lifting one end of said sheet and disengaging it from the lifter, drawing the sheet ofl' from the pile after its end is lifted, holding the pile of sheets under the lifted one immovable while the latter is drawn off, and to provide for this class of machines an improved sheet-receiving apron adapted to be adjusted to sheets of Va rious dimensions.

In the drawings, formingpart of this specification, Figure l is a perspective view of a paper-feeding machine constructed according to my invention. Fig.2 is a perspective view 2 5 of the separators and the sheet-retainer. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views of the sheet-retainer, and Fig. 5 shows a modified construction of one of the parts of the picking-up and separating devices.

In the drawings, A is the frame of the machine, and in said frame is placed table D, supported on screw-shafts f, one on each side of said table, and suitable end supports, and adapted to be moved vertically by means of said screw-shafts f through suitable connections with driving-shaft B, as hereinafter described.

Drivingshaft B has on each end thereof an eccentric, t, which, through their connectingrods y, impart the necessary movement to the suction-pipe bar, whereby the proper movements are given to the vibrating separators 2 2 through the medium of elbow-levers 4 4 and connecting-levers 3-3, andalso whereby the suction-pipe is brought down into contact with the top sheet of the pile of paper E on table D.

On shaftB, Figure 1, is placed a suitable eccentric which acts through connecting-rod 5o 6 and arm 7 to give a reciprocating rotary motion to shaft 8, which operates the sheetretainer 12, as'hereinat'ter described.

On shafts F and B are placed two sp'rocketwheels, hand It, and by means of chaini motion is imparted from the shaft B to shaft F, on which are placed the two paper-feeding rollers, m m.

Between the front posts of frame A is placed a bar, 9, which serves as a guide-bar for suetion-pipe d, and serves also to disengage the sheet of paper from the end of suction-pipe d as the latter rises and retires part way into said guide-bar g.

The adjustable apron H has one end rolled around a shalt, a, a sufficient length being unrolled to bringthe edge of the apron nearly .up to the pile of paper, where it is held in proper position by means of spring 14, at- .tached to each end of a bar secured to the end of the apron, as shown, the pawl v and ratchet 7c 12 serving to prevent the rotation of shaft a under the tension of springs 14..

The delivery-rolls x w on shaft to are of the ordinary construction, and are driven by means of a belt from pulley 0 on shaft F to pulley 0 on the lower delivery-roll, 2.

My improved sheet-separating devices cousist of the vibratory separators 2 2, having a pivotal connection with the back board, 16, by means of slots through said separa- 8otors, through which pins pass, as shown. This means of hanging said separators permits. them, when operated as below described, to have a vibratory movement toward and from each other, to have the slight vertical movement consequentupon said vibratory movement while they rest on the paper, and allows the separators to bear with their whole weight against the paper. Each separator 2 is connected with one arm of the 0 I elbow-lever 4by the rod 3, and the other arm of said lever is slotted, as shown, and in the slot therein a pin, 5, engages, said pinbeing secured to the verticallymoving bar c. The lower ends of the separators 2 2 which come 5 in contact with the paper are broadenedand shod with some frictional resilient substance, such as rubber or other suitable material. The suction-pipe bar 0 has the air-pipe d secured thereto, and by said bar the latter is moved downward so that its open end is brought in contact with the upper sheet of paper of the pile, and then said pipe, with said sheet attached thereto by pneumatic action, is lifted, as shown in Fig. 1. Said pipe d is connected by a. suitable flexible tube, a section of which, 6, is shown in Fig. 1, with any suitable exhaust pan or pump, whereby a continuous or intermittent suction effect is produced in tube d. Said bar 0 is adapted to slide in slots in the two front posts of frame A, and to the ends of said bar 0, projecting through said slots, are attached the connecting-rods y, as shown in Fig. 1, said bar 0 being given, by means of the eccentrics t on the ends of shaft B and the said connectingrods, a vertical reciprocating motion.

By means of a suitable eccentric placed on the farther end of shaft B, Fig. 1, a rocking motion is given to shaft 8, as described. On the endof said rock-shaftS is placed an arm, 9, to which is pivotally connected the sheet-retaining finger 12, and any suitable support, as guide-bar 13,is provided for the sheet-retaining finger 12, said guide-bar 13 being cut away, as shown in Fig. 3, to receive the sheetretaiuer 12, and adapted to impart to said sheetretainer, as described, the requisite vertical motion whereby the said finger 12 may be withdrawn from the pile of paper and take its place again to retain the second sheet of said pile in position while the upper sheet isbeing' separated and moved from it, said finger having no endwise movement while in contact with the paper whereby the sheet on which it rests would be moved. In order to accomplish this result the said'retaining-finger .is constructed with a downwardly-projecting bearing end, as shown in Fig. 4, (where said finger is shown bottom side up.) A strip of rubber, 17, or like material is attached to the under side of said finger 12, (see Fig. 4,) a

caring-surface being left on each side of said rubber, which bearing-surfaces are adapted to slide on theshoulde'rs 88, Fig. 3, in bar'13'.

The utmost forward movement of finger-12 over the pile of paper does not take it far enough forward to carry the curved edges on the under side of said finger away from the shoulders s 8. Therefore the first movement of the arm 9, to which finger 12 is connected, away from the pile of paper imparts a vertical and rearward motion to said finger, so that the sheets of the pile of paper are in no wise disturbed by'either a forward or backward move ment of the sheet-retaining finger, as said finger drops upon the paper without any further endwisemovement.

A curved spring, 10, is appliedbetweenarm 9 and finger 12 of sufficient strength to press the finger on the paper and hold the latter,

' as aforesaid.

On shaft F are placed two sheet-feeding rollers, m m, which are located directly over the pile of paper being operated upon. A portion of the peripheries of said rolls has applied thereto a covering of rubber or similar substance having preferably the frictional and yielding characteristics of rubber tubing. The uncovered periphery of said rolls rotates free from the pile of paper; but the rotation of said rolls is so timed relative to the aforesaid separating and picking-up devices that when the end of the sheet is lifted the said covered portion of them rolls against the sheet and draws it from the pile onto the apron H. Said shaft F is driven from shaft B by two sprocket-wheels and a'chain, as shown in Fig. 1.

As the pile of paper is reduced on top by feeding, the top of the pile is kept at the same level by means of the feeding-up devices shown, which are of ordinary construction, the eccentric a on the driving-shaft actuating by means of the pawl b the ratchet-wheel c, which imparts through the medium of bevelgears an intermittent rotary motion to screw shaft f, so regulated as to move up the table on which the pile of paper rests fast enough to compensatefor the reduction of the paper by feeding.

The operation of my machine is as follows: A quantity of paper is placed on the table D and the level of the top of the pile is suitably adjusted relative to the separators 2 2, so that the weight of the latter is on the pile, and the machine being started the first movement is the lifting and retiring of the sheet-retaining finger 12 from the pile actuated by rock-shaft 8, and as said finger is lifted from the paper the bar 0 descends, swinging levers 4 4 and causing the ends of the separators 2 2 to-move toward each other and so crowding the sheet between them as to spring that portion thereof upward away from the sheet 7 next under it, and at this instant the sheet-retaining finger 12 comes forward and drops on the sheet under the top one. The continued downward movement of bar 0 brings the end of the suction-pipe d against the sheet just acted on by the separators, as aforesaid, and, returning, carries with it the suction-pipe and one end of the sheet of paper, and the separators swing back to their former position ready to repeat their movements. The suction-pipe in its upward movement retiresinto the bar 9, thereby freeing itself from the sheet. That portion of the periphery of the rollers m m having the friction-strips it thereon is then brought against the surface of said separated sheet, and it is thereby drawn off from the pile onto the apron H and pushed between rollers z and 00, whereby it is fed off onto the rear table, I.

The weight of the separators 2 2 upon the upper sheets of the pile after they have operated, as above set forth, to separate the upper ment of the second sheet when the upper one begins to move, and thus tends to prevent more than one sheet being uplifted at a time, it being a frequent inconvenience with pneumatic separators, when used without down- IIO sheet serves to prevent any upward move- 3ze,124 p 3 holding appliances, as aforesaid, for the sheets, that more than one sheet is lifted and carried off at a time.

Fig. 5 illustrates a modified construction of separating devices wherein only a gravityacting paper-holder, 18, hung in bar 0'', is shown as being allowed to rest on the pile of sheets near the suction-pipe d when said bar goes down, thereby performing the downholding function of one of the separators 2 and tending to hold the sheets below the upper one down while the latter is lifted. A holder, 18, may be placed each side of the pipe (2.

The within-described machine is adapted to have the separator and picking-up devices act, within reasonable limits, either side of the center of the face of the pile of paper, for the purpose of feeding the sheets from near to one side or the other of the machine, and cause them to register, as may be desired, with ruling or other machines.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In a paper-feeding machine, the pivoted sheet-retaining finger 12, the guide-bar 13, mechanism, substantially as described, to impart to said finger a horizontal reciprocating motion, and a spring to bear it against the paper, combined and operating substantially as described.

2. In combination, the guide-bar 13, having the shoulders s s, the finger 12, having curved bearing-surfaces to act against said shoulders, the arm 9, pivoted to said finger, spring 10, and suitable mechanism for "giving a vibratory motion to said arm, substantially as set forth.

3. The separators 2 2, having slots therethrough, pivoted to the back board, 16, by pins passing through said slots, the elbow-levers 4 4, also pivoted to said board, connected with the separators, and mechanism, substantially as described, for imparting a vibratory mo tion to said levers, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

4. The separators 2 2, having slots there through pivoted to the back board 16 by pins passing through said slots, the elbow-levers 4 1, also pivoted to said board and connected to the separators, and mechanism, substantially as described, for imparting a vibratory motion to said levers, combined with the suction-pipe d, suitable air-exhausting devices connected with the latter, and mechanism, substantially as described, for imparting a vertically-reciprocating motion to said pipe, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination, the suction-pipe d, suitable air-exhausting devices connected with said pipe, mechanism, substantially as de-' scribed, forgiving to the latter a verticallyreciprocating motion, the retaining-finger 12, the guide-bar 13, spring 10, and mechanism, substantially as described, for imparting to said finger a reciprocating movement, substantially as set forth.

6. In a paper-feeding machine, the combination, with the feed-rolls m and the deliveryrolls thereof, of the flexible extensible apron H, springs E, shaft a, and means, substantially as described, for preventing the latter from turning by the tension of the springs E,

substantially as set forth.

JosEPH o. KNEELAND.

Witnesses:

'WM. H. CHAPIN, J. D. GARFIELD. 

